Makers

I see it this way: shamans have to become accomplished stalkers, dreamers, seers, and healers, as well as a few other things, but according to each individual's predilections, they will end up specializing in one area.

Twilight threw shadows up the hills like dark bony fingers. Watching the growing, slowly moving shadows, he saw them creep into the edge of the trees like a dark hand insinuating itself into a living glove.

The darkness seemed to grip the earth, seizing it away from the sinking sun, stealing the light, carrying it into the forgetful sleep of an approaching night. He settled back slowly on his heels, feeling the first coolness of the approaching evening flit about his face in the light breeze.

The day had been hot, hotter than most. He shifted his position to sit more comfortably on the flat stone he had perched on to rest. He took off the rough gloves and looked thoughtfully at his hands, inspecting the new blisters and old calluses, which the gloves were supposed to prevent, but somehow never seemed to do.

The gravel crunched coldy beneath his feet. Looking down, the little boy wondered at the different sounds walking made on the frozen gravel path.The full moon gave the ground a pearlescent glow as his footsteps echoed in the cold. He added the sounds and colors to his seven year old memory.

I tend to think of the system - or rather, 'way of seeing' - as a package deal. Think of it in terms of a box that is passed down through the generations. The box can't be divided up among a generation at any time, for to do so would destroy it's ability to be passed intact down through time.